


indifference

by eratedgore



Category: Soul Nomad
Genre: Gen, possibly inaccurate descriptions of blood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-06
Updated: 2018-02-06
Packaged: 2019-03-14 11:41:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13589310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eratedgore/pseuds/eratedgore
Summary: Multiple observations about Revya, centered on a peculiar trait of his.





	indifference

**Author's Note:**

> revya doesn't give a SHIT

She moved slowly, hesitantly, clutching the back of the old lady’s (L… Leya? what was it again?) dress. The room they had entered was quiet, and there was only one boy inside, unlike the busy village center. He was idly playing with his hands, and didn’t look up even at the loud sound of Danette’s hooves against the stone floor. The lady (lady… lady Lay… Lay...na?) cleared her throat.

“Revya?” The boy looked up, his golden eyes standing out against the dark room. Danette shivered. “This is Danette, who will be staying with us from now on. She’s about your age, so you two should try to get along.” Danette stared back at the boy, then broke their eye contact to nod at Lady Layna (Layna! that’s what it was). He tilted his head, and Danette clung to Lady Layna even tighter. She smiled at Danette though, so Danette came out from behind her legs a little more.

“H...hi,” she called out to him.

“Hello.” His voice was flat. He seemed empty— not in the way she was, no memories to hold onto and fill her up. He had nothing in his eyes. His face was blank. Was he even human? As if he was done with the interaction, the boy went back to looking at his hands. That was just rude. Even if Danette was a little shy, to just ignore her like that was mean. She came out from behind Lady Layna, a little bolder.

“Hey, we’re gonna be friends, right? So… act like it!” She didn’t know where the words came from, but she stood by them. He ought to be friendlier. Lady Layna chuckled softly, and the boy looked back up.

“Alright, Danette.”

 

_ The onyx blade hangs in the air ominously. Danette frowns. _

_ “I thought we got to choose…?” Revya makes no comment. He doesn’t mind (as he shouldn’t). A few steps closer, approaching his destiny. Right as he reaches out, fingers nearly around the grip of the sword, Revya looks up into Virtuous’ eyes. _

_ He knows. _

_ Wordlessly, he takes hold of the sword. _

Virtuous awoke in a sweat. Rarely did she have dreams, even rarer for them to be so vivid. It didn’t feel like a good premonition. But everything had to go as planned. She summoned her two young warriors.

(Laying her eyes on Revya, Virtuous felt a strange sense of uneasiness.

She could already hear Gig laughing.)

 

They stared down at his sword, blood drying on the blade. Gig whistled.

“Not bad, for your first kill. Of course, if it were me, the whole thing would be caked in red.” The kid continued to stare in a sort of unfocused way.   
“So I did kill that soldier.” Gig frowned.

“Well, duh. You kinda ran him through. Why, are you bothered by it?” It would be such a pain in the ass if he got upset over something as little as killing one person. He was gonna have a hard time with a Master of Death residing in him.  _ Gig _ would have a hard time hanging out with such a weakling. A tiny drop of blood slowly rolled down the blade. The kid was thinking about something.

Suddenly, with a quick flick of his sword, the drop splat against the dirt.

“Not really,” he said. Oh. Gig had expected… well, he wasn’t really sure what he expected, but it was something else. It wasn’t like he was disappointed, though.

Which, for everyone else on the planet, might not have been a good thing. Gig grinned a little.

“Good.”

 

“Is Danette okay now?” Revya spoke from behind Vitali. Vitali splashed a bit of water on his hands, rinsing them off. Night had fallen over their makeshift camp, and Vitali had taken care of most of the injured amongst their party.

“Yes. She had thrown up quite a bit, so now she’s resting.”

“Is she sick?” Vitali shook his head.

“No, I believe it was the battle we just went through. It’s likely Danette was just very… bothered, by the violence.” It was a common occurrence. Even Christophe’s trained soldiers would feel ill over gore and guts. Gig scoffed.

“And she says she’s gonna ‘snap some necks’? She should toughen up. It isn’t going to be fun and games if you dumbasses want to kill the World Eaters. You seem to be doing fine though, kid.” Vitali stood up and started to turn around.

“I haven’t checked you yet, Revya, are you—?” Vitali saw Revya looking off to the side, arms folded, clothes covered in blood. Some splatters looked still wet, others as though they would never come out. Vitali’s eyes widened as Revya turned his attention back to him.

“What? Oh.” Gig cackled as Revya looked down at himself. “Um, I’m not hurt badly. Just a bit bruised. Battered. Really. Nothing a night’s rest won’t fix.”

“Kid, you look like hell! And smell like it too.” Revya scratched the back of his head sheepishly, and Vitali just blinked, taken a bit aback. It was nothing Vitali hadn’t seen before. He had taken care of every sort of injury that could be gained on the battlefield, had been far too close and personal with guts for his liking. It wasn’t the amount of blood that caught Vitali’s attention, it was that Revya wasn’t reacting to it.

“That’s… you’re not bothered by it at all?” Revya just shrugged.

“I’ve shown him way worse than this.” Vitali guessed Gig smiled as he said that, and decided not to ask. Revya gave a wave of his hand.

“I’m gonna go… clean up. Later.” Vitali watched him walk away. How curious. To think that two childhood friends, raised in the same environment, would have such different reactions— Danette disgusted, and Revya...

Was that Gig’s influence? Or was that careless attitude just a trait of Revya’s?

Someone let out a cry, and Vitali’s attention went elsewhere.

 

Odie groaned as he started to prop himself up with his staff. How embarrassing. The same group had beaten them quite a few times now. How strong could they be?? And was that the Grand Cordon over there?? He was even stronger!! Was he an ally of th—

The one with the black sword came close, and Odie’s head snapped up to look at him.

Why? Why did he always look at him like that? Every time, it was those same, empty eyes! As if each time he forgot who Odie was! (Or was supposed to be, anyways.)

“You should leave,” he said. How irritating! How condescending! How, how…!

Those eyes.

How empty.

Odie almost felt sad for the boy. As he limped off, he wondered why such a young kid would look like that.

But then he remembered why he was limping, and he lost all sympathy.

 

Juno watched all of them, took in all that she could to learn about her new allies. They weren’t too different than some Nereids. The Sepps of the group were rather straightforward, and Vitali was a decent person when he was there (when visible? when was he actually there anyway?). Even Gig was easy to figure out: an evil asshole that wanted to destroy everyone. A simple jackass. She was getting used to the group fairly quickly (something she was secretly proud of, of course a Nereid like her could situate herself in an unfamiliar situation with ease). Admittedly however, some… habits? customs? still escaped Juno. There seemed to be a problem with seniority and respect. Gig would say whatever he wanted whenever he wanted (although Juno didn’t really expect anything else out of  _ him _ ), and Danette frequently berated those older than her and even Revya, the leader of the group.

Revya himself was a different problem.

He seemed to be a good kid. He smiled nicely and talked as politely as one could expect a seventeen year old to. He was patient and helped those in need,  _ never  _ complaining about how he, only a teenager, had to save the world. He wielded the massive power he was given for the good of the planet. But who knew what went on in his head? Vitali was more elusive than Revya, but he didn’t outwardly contradict himself the way Revya did. Revya seemed to be a morally right, kind person, but it was also clear that he was friends with the mass murderer within him. Juno had never seen him get offended or angry at what Gig said, never denied Gig’s desire for blood and violence with anything harsh, never more than “we’re not doing that, Gig”. If he was truly a moral, respectable person, why was he so alright with all of it?

Gig  _ was _ easy to ignore after a while, and there was more to worry about than a few vulgar threats. It might’ve just been that Revya didn’t have the energy to expend on yelling at Gig, who wouldn’t be silenced. Like, at all. Or maybe it was just how Revya was.

Still, at the back of her mind, Juno wondered.

 

Grunzford watched warily from a distance. The boy with the red hair was the one. The poor soul chosen by Lady Layna to bear the weight of the world. He looked normal enough, but the sudden laughter and remarks from some disembodied (well, technically it had a body) voice reminded Grunzford to not underestimate him. He carried that evil essence within him, and was not completely insusceptible to its influence.

More laughter. The Sepp girl jabbed a finger at the boy and frowned. The devil threw out a couple of rude words, then said something that would make the average soldier shiver. The girl grew angry. The Nereid beside them made a face.

Grunzford clenched a fist. Why did the boy look so calm? Why didn’t he say more, deny that murderer within him more strongly? Grunzford hadn’t lived in the village while the boy was growing up, so he couldn’t say that he knew what the boy was thinking, but still he worried.

Would Grunzford have to destroy both the demon and the boy himself? 

Was there still a difference?

 

“It really messes with your head.” She nodded absentmindedly, tucking hair behind her ear.

“Do you get dreams too, Revya? They’re always so awful for me…” People dying, bitter cries, weapons glinting in the sun, blood everywhere, staining her clothes and skin down to the bone… Revya didn’t look up from his sword.

“Mhm. All the time.” Tricia thought she heard Gig scoff and mutter something, but Revya spoke over him. “Just gotta… move on, you know. This is a war we’re fighting. It’s not going to be pretty.” Tricia smiled slowly.

“What a fearless leader,” she commented. There was a heavy pause in the air, and Tricia turned away from Revya. “Thank you, Revya.” He smiled up at her briefly. Tricia yawned. “Well, I suppose I’ll leave you now…”

“Sleep well, Tricia.”

“You too.” Tricia walked off, feeling somewhat comforted by the fact Revya shared her pains. He always had seemed so strong and quiet, like he was bearing his burden without complaint, solid when someone else wavered. While that in itself was reassuring, it was almost… nice, that he was just as human as the rest of them.

...What was it that Gig had said, though? Revya rarely interrupted him. She could’ve swore he had snarked something, coughed out one word that sounded like…

No, it must’ve been her imagination. There was no reason for Gig to suddenly say “liar”.

 

A wide smile split Raksha’s face. The old witch lied crumpled in the dirt, leaving just the insignificant bothers to mow down. 

Danette had already been done significant damage, her life shattered with one measly death. Despite all her threats and boasting, she had been the most fragile of the group. 

Vitali’s hands were balled into fists. He must’ve been frustrated with how he couldn’t save Layna. Years of training, years of healing and helping, even practicing on “Levin”, and now someone was dead at his feet. Raksha could almost feel Vitali’s grief from where he stood. 

Endorph was similarly emitting his anger, scowling and furrowing his brows and looking utterly pitiful. Raksha almost laughed in his face. Did he think he was intimidating or something?

Speaking of pitiful, Gig had only made one comment, uncharacteristic of him. Where was the snark? The laughter? Pathetic. He had really lost his touch over time. There was nothing better than being free from his control and fucking stupid commands.

Raksha looked past the rest at Gig and his vessel. Revya, if he had remembered right, had also been raised by Layna. If he was devastated enough, Gig wouldn’t be able to do anything, having no control over the body. Raksha could kill him just as easily as he did the bitch. As if he knew Raksha was watching, Revya looked up.

Brow furrowed. Something resembling the beginnings of a scowl. But where was the  _ emotion _ ? The teary eyes? A face twisted in rage?

...Was he even really feeling anything?

 

Gig was dead.

Danette was crying her heart out.

Revya felt as though his face was frozen.

Gig was practically the most important person to him, yet not a single tear fell.

“He’s not coming back, Danette,” he told her again, several days after they left Drazil. She let out a soft wail. She was still crying.

“Yes he is! Why do you keep saying this? I thought you cared for him!!” Revya looked down. Gig’s laughter still echoed in his head. That one last laugh.

“He lied, Danette.”

“Shut up! Shut up! You’re the liar! You’re acting all calm, but when he left before, you were so upset!” she frustratedly reminded him. “You were all ‘where’s Gig’, too!”

“I was. But this is different,” Revya said. Back then, he had no idea what happened to Gig, and became confused and panicked. Gig was the key to saving the world, and then just disappeared. Revya guessed Danette had never thought of that. She had been  _ glad _ Gig was gone. Now, Revya knew, and Danette refused to believe.

“You just don’t care,” she mumbled into her hands. Revya stopped arguing with her. Gig would’ve been making fun of them for still going on about it.

Maybe that was what everyone thought. They might have always seen Revya as apathetic. He cared. It was as if Gig’s soul had ripped away from his, leaving an open and raw wound. He was upset too. He was hurting too. It was just that Revya had always been better at handling pain, at not showing it was there at all. He was better at getting over it.

(Gig’s voice rang in his head.

_ “Hey kid, shouldn’t you be feeling the same way?” _

Revya found himself responding.

_ No, I’m okay _ .)

He always knew when to move on.


End file.
